Looking for oral history collections?

There are more than 15,000 recordings in the Oral History and Sound Collection held at the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington. The collection catalogue is not yet available on line. For information about the collection see here

For oral histories held elsewhere you might want to consult Oral History in New Zealand: A Directory of Collections 1992 published by NOHANZ and the Oral History Centre in 1992

For oral history records in New Zealand that relate to the social and economic history of Maori see Monty Soutar’s work for the Crown Forestry Rental Trust in 2003 here

Search Local History Online for digital images and indexes to community newspapers, archives and oral histories relating to West Auckland, Rodney and the North Shore held at the following Auckland libraries: Takapuna (North Shore), Waitakere (West Auckland) and Whangaparoa (Rodney).

International

H-OralHist is for those interested in oral history studies. It is part of H-Net, the Humanities & Social Sciences On-Line network, and is affiliated with the Oral History Association (USA). Subscription is free and subscribers may sign up to receive notifications via email or RSS feeds. Some of it is not relevant to us here in NZ, and sometimes practices differ, eg reliance on transcriptions, but there can be interesting discussions, notices of internet-based events and links that could be useful.https://networks.h-net.org/h-oralhist

Forgotten Australians – oral history recordings with people from all over Australia talking about their experiences in institutional care, including ‘Lost Innocents’ (former child migrants) and ‘Forgotten Australians’. http://forgottenaustralianshistory.gov.au

Australian Generations Oral History Project, Monash Universityhttp://arts.monash.edu.au/australian-generations/ with links to national and international oral history associations, projects and collections using oral history, along with scholarly institutions and centres around the world.

Oral History and related documentaries

Search “oral history” on the Radio New Zealand website http://www.radionz.co.nz/listen# and you will find a number of programmes including interviews with practising oral historians

BBC Memory Wars a two part documentary in which Alan Dein hears voices of experience from across the globe and from those using oral history to challenge the past. First broadcast on 29 September, 2010 Alessandro Portelli reflecting on his work, illustrating his intellectual journey with reference to the stories of the personal, and the historical, victories and defeats that have inspired his critical contribution.

Talking Heads The Royal Society Science 2010 Lecture Series on Brain and Behaviour in which some of New Zealand’s most distinguished experts on brain and behaviour explore what makes us tick, including: how we learned to talk, how we know who we are, how memories are made, why we do bad things, and what happens when things go wrong?

This workshop is designed for educators who want to bring oral history into their classrooms and learning spaces. We’ll begin with a rigorous introduction to oral history theory, methods and practice before reviewing existing curricula as a jumping off place to design our own curricula/projects.

We’ll think about how oral history’s best practices dovetail with a range of learning objectives, seizing upon the field’s potential to support active listening, ethical documentary practice along with considerations of: primary sources, myth, memory, the archive as a future history, silence, talking across difference, problem solving, shared authority, collaborative analysis and historiography. Participants will be guided through a design process with a chance to workshop their emergent ideas with the group.

Note: The example curricula will be directly relevant for learners age 5 and up, though we welcome early childhood educators, as well. Please contact us with any questions about the appropriate fit of this workshop or other workshops.

Instructor: Suzanne SniderLocation: 1 North Front Street, Hudson, New YorkTuition: Sliding Scale ($475 to $700. See below for more details)*We are accepting scholarship applications from local Hudson area educators (K-12) for three tuition-free spaces